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Boys in the Boat
Rebel Yell by SC Gwynne
Empire of the Summer Moon by Gwynne
Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides
Ike by Michael Korda
Trail of Tears by John Ehle
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Colonel Roosevelt
Theodore Rex
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Three Trillion Dollar War by J. Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes (a plug for my brother's step-daughter, the co-author)
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Tim Egan
The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by C. Papazian (ok, not really a novel, but an essential part of my library)

Pretty much anything by Tim Egan. I've read and enjoyed "Short Nights...", "Breaking Blue", "The Worst Hard Time" and "The Big Burn". He is a worthy successor to Ivan Doig as the iconic chronicler of the American Northwest.

From the perspective of the indigenous people, a couple of interesting reads are: 1) "The Orenda" by Joseph Boyden which deals with intertribal wars in Canada and the early Jesuit missionaries; and 2) "Fools Crow" by James Welch, a novel of the Blackfeet in the post civil war era

It's amazing that T.J. Stiles, winner of 2 Pulitzers for biography, a midwesterner who can live in any city he wants, has chosen to live in the city that every on this board hates so passionately.

I think it's a lot more complex. I have "hate" for some of the politicos and anarchists who I've had to deal with, but have passion and love it for many reasons too. I would live in Berkeley even though I hate what some of the people have done to keep it from being the best it can; in many ways it's still one of the most interesting places on earth.

Since it has been a long time since I've seen a book thread and I love the suggestions some posters have made, he goes my list to read before the football season heats up:
Russian Revolution by Sean McMeekin - or any other book by him.
Kamikaze Hunters by Will Iredale - the British Navy in WW II in the Pacific.
What the Hell Just Happened (2016 election) by the inimitable PJ O'Rourke
Shattered - Why Clinton lost - by Jonathan Martin.
African Kaiser by Robert Gaudi - story of Lettow von Vorbek the German Guerilla leader in East Africa in WW I
Earning the Rockies by Robert Kaplan - or any of his other books always first rate imo.
Apache Wars by Paul Hutton for someone like me who knows little Western history it was great.
American Heiress (Patty Hearst - Cal connection) by Jeffrey Toobin. The only person in US history ever to have her sentence commuted (by Carter) and then be pardoned (by Clinton). She didn't deserve either one.
1916 A Global History by Keith Jeffrey - tour d' horizon of WWI in all theaters.
Titan (John D Rockerfeller) by Ron Chernow - or any of his other books esp Hamilton.
The Fleet at Flood Tide (USNavy near end of WWII) by James Hornfischer - or any other book by him.
1948 (Dewey another bad campainer who sat on a lead) by David Pietrusza
The Vanquished (the refugees and other disruptions after WWI) by Robert Gerwath
The Man With the Poison Gun (Russian Cold War assasination of an opponent- what's new) by Serhi Polkhy or his other books.

I was wondering if you are looking strictly for books that are great literary works.
As a reader primarily of non-fiction, I can recommend several books for their educational value, but I wouldn't say they are particularly well written. To give you an example, I recently read Colin Campbell's bestselling book "the China Study". It is a groundbreaking work on the topic of nutrition by a true expert. I also think that Howard Zinn's "People's History of the United States" is great for a completely different look at U.S. history. But it gets very tired towards the 2nd half of his 500 page work, as his writing style is not very imaginative. I have other books that will simply blow your mind but may not be true...but could be.